I cannot get enough of J.S.Bach Piano Concerto in D Minor D Minor BWV 1052 Polina Osetinskaya Anton Gakkel
My little T-Rex somehow got a hold of one of my niece's hair ties. He is being very naughty and will not let me get it off of him. He nipped me!
The Bauhaus Ideal Then and Now: An Illustrated Guide to Modern Design by William Smock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Interesting overview of the history of Bauhaus art. William Smock gives a fairly balanced view of an art style which has influenced not only art styles, but architecture, machines and even electronic devices. He enhances his essays with personal drawings that illustrate the buildings, art, inventions and also the artists who founded this group.
The Bauhaus group started as a design school in Germany after World War I. Literally, it means, "house of building". Their goal was to replace the fussy detail of Victorian art, furniture and buildings with clean, rational lines. Their buildings are known for their square, blocky and cold patterns. Some of the better known members of the group were: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe; Paul Klee; Wassily Kandinsky and the founder, Walter Gropius.
The American architect, Louis Sullivan, in the late 19th century stipulated that form follows function. The Bauhaus group carried that to an extreme. Examples of Bauhaus is the Seagram Building in New York City (for comparison one can look at the Empire State building, which is Art Deco). Another command is less is more.
Bauhaus designed furniture
Unfortunately, the Bauhaus was a great theory but did not pan out in real life. Take for instance Philip Johnson's glass houses. An interesting concept to be sure, but the design did not take into account the oppressive heat from the sun boiling into the interior without the protection of walls or even curtains. And, of course, it's not an edifice that you're going to be doing anything you wouldn't do in public, hence a neighboring house for "private activities".
In Paris the Nation Library with its glass towers also disregards the fact that sunlight is bad for books. All the windows are now blocked by blank wooden doors.
The Design Building for the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago has turned out to be a lousy place to study and a glass box for a theater in German also proved to be bad because theaters have to be dark, so an interior room shielding the light was built on the inside. The same goes for a glass art museum, since light hurts paintings. All three were designed by Mies van der Rohe. You'd think he'd have learned something after the first building.
The most obvious case of form not following function are the housing developments in Chicago and St. Louis, Missouri. Supposedly, the buildings were to promote friendly, clean, "honest", functional urban development. Twenty years later they had turned into gang war zones. These buildings have since been demolished.
Smock concludes that while there is no doubt that Bauhaus heavily influenced future design of architecture and design in many fields, from kitchen appliances to cars, they are most successful at creating art objects.
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My little T-Rex somehow got a hold of one of my niece's hair ties. He is being very naughty and will not let me get it off of him. He nipped me!
The Bauhaus Ideal Then and Now: An Illustrated Guide to Modern Design by William SmockMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Interesting overview of the history of Bauhaus art. William Smock gives a fairly balanced view of an art style which has influenced not only art styles, but architecture, machines and even electronic devices. He enhances his essays with personal drawings that illustrate the buildings, art, inventions and also the artists who founded this group.
The American architect, Louis Sullivan, in the late 19th century stipulated that form follows function. The Bauhaus group carried that to an extreme. Examples of Bauhaus is the Seagram Building in New York City (for comparison one can look at the Empire State building, which is Art Deco). Another command is less is more.
Unfortunately, the Bauhaus was a great theory but did not pan out in real life. Take for instance Philip Johnson's glass houses. An interesting concept to be sure, but the design did not take into account the oppressive heat from the sun boiling into the interior without the protection of walls or even curtains. And, of course, it's not an edifice that you're going to be doing anything you wouldn't do in public, hence a neighboring house for "private activities".
Phillip Johnson's Glass House
In Paris the Nation Library with its glass towers also disregards the fact that sunlight is bad for books. All the windows are now blocked by blank wooden doors.
The Design Building for the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago has turned out to be a lousy place to study and a glass box for a theater in German also proved to be bad because theaters have to be dark, so an interior room shielding the light was built on the inside. The same goes for a glass art museum, since light hurts paintings. All three were designed by Mies van der Rohe. You'd think he'd have learned something after the first building.
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| Piet Mondrian |
The most obvious case of form not following function are the housing developments in Chicago and St. Louis, Missouri. Supposedly, the buildings were to promote friendly, clean, "honest", functional urban development. Twenty years later they had turned into gang war zones. These buildings have since been demolished.
Smock concludes that while there is no doubt that Bauhaus heavily influenced future design of architecture and design in many fields, from kitchen appliances to cars, they are most successful at creating art objects.
Walter Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969), founder of the Bauhaus School
And I must admit, that I like the Bauhaus ideal and especially its paintings.
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10 comments:
I also like the look of the paintings and some of the buildings. I know little of architecture. I would think that applying some of these concepts, without going overboard, like the glass houses did, might yield good results.
We enjoyed listening to Bach's piano concerto. Thank you.
I'm drawn to the design of this architecture b/c it is minimalism as a visual idea; however, I can see the problems with it b/c lack of privacy and no protection from heat. It would be nice to add features like retractable shades or walls, as we can today, to block out the sun when necessary or to add privacy when needed. That would work in some cases.
Hi Brian. I do like the smooth, square form of Bauhaus and I really like the art.
Hi Ruth. I also like a lot of attributes of this type of building. I think maybe some of the designers got a little too much into what would put their name on the map rather than what would actually benefit the people or things inside the building. Frank Lloyd Wright was also guilty of this at times.
i've been entranced in the past by the enthusiasm and conviction with which creators, inventors and such push their projects to a conclusion, regardless of what might be termed common sense by others... sometimes the results change the coursed of history, thereby justifying my awareness that mistakes sometimes make the world a better place... for some reason i really like Mondrian, even though it doesn't seem to be about anything... v. interesting, tx... Bauhaus makes me remember Walter Benjamin, who i don't know anything about, either: just that the name is somehow associated with that period...
Hi R.T. I'm so glad you're back. I've already visited your blog. I think I appreciate your blog even better after reading Gooch's biography of O'Connor.
I would like to read the Johnson biography.
Hi Mudpuddle! I'm with you. I really like Mondrian as well, especially his pink and grey squares. They have one in the Art museum (I think it's called the Kimball) in Fort Worth, TX. We just visited it over the Thanksgiving break.
Thanks, R.T. I will go look for it.
Clean and rational? The Germans? No! ....... Ha, ha, just kidding. Interesting architecture. It seems rather cold though. I think I'd take fussy any day.
I think the Germans are known for being kind of cold, although, the Germans I met when visiting a couple of years ago were friendly.
But Bauhaus does seem very German, doesn't it.
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